The FIA World Rallycross Championship, presented by Monster Energy, has agreed terms with the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) to hold a 13th World RX round alongside the 2015 DTM season-opener at the Hockenheimring in Germany, to be held from 1st till 3rd of May.
The Hockenheimring was originally built in 1932 and is home to the bi-annual German Formula One race, held most recently in 2014. It has also staged the DTM series since the Championship’s inaugural season back in 1984. Since 2011, Hockenheimring has hosted both the opening and closing rounds of DTM with World RX driver Mattias Ekström winning last year’s season-finale in front of a sell-out crowd. Working closely with Apex Circuit Design, a purpose built Rallycross circuit is being built in the famous “Sachs Arena” stadium section of the impressive German venue. The new partnership between IMG and ITR is part of a multi-year deal which sees the F1 circuit added to the growing list of world-famous race circuits that now boast purpose-built Rallycross circuits. World RX and DTM will be joined in Hockenheim by DTM’s support championships: the Porsche Carerra Cup Deutschland, the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and the all-new Audi Sport TT Cup.
Only one week after the WRX season-opener in Portugal the German Hockenheimring will host Round 2. © Wikipedia/ERC24
Martin Anayi, World RX Managing Director for IMG, spoke positively about the latest boost for the FIA’s newest World Championship event: “It is a great honour to partner with DTM at their 2015 season-opening weekend at the Hockenheimring. We have been extremely impressed with the professionalism we have seen from ITR in running DTM and we can’t wait to show the German motorsport audience just how special World RX is. There is a natural link with [Mattias] Ekström competing in both Championships and also with permanent World RX driver [Anton] Marklund competing in the new Audi Sport TT Cup. We were thrilled when the opportunity arose to build a purpose built Rallycross circuit in one of the world’s most famous venues. Coupled with the fact that an RX event would be held on such an important weekend in the German motorsport calendar was the icing on the cake. As a result, we now have a fantastic chance to showcase World RX and our sport to a brand new audience. We are very excited about developing our relationship with ITR and look forward to future collaborations.”
ITR Chairman Hans-Werner Aufrecht added: “Whatever we do, we always do it allowing for the interests of the fans we want to provide a unique experience, at the circuit. In consideration of this fact, the FIA World Rallycross Championship suits us perfectly: the DTM high-tech touring cars and the rugged compact World RX racers represent two different, fascinating motor-sport facets. I am convinced that the motor-racing enthusiasts will love this combination.”